Mexico smiles and accepts many foreigners — because they bring money. Most prove to be some degree of blessing. Some gripe and complain but do no real harm. A few become curses. read more

Question: There is so much bad news along the border. Does anybody ever smile?

Answer: Of course — and sometimes we laugh out loud. With all hell breaking loose around them, Border Patrol agents in the Juarez region caught a crowd of bad Barbie dolls trying to sneak into the United States. read more

Nobody asked about holidays in Mexico so I just won't tell you but I will say happy 2011. And please wish us luck for the Pan Am Games coming to Guadalajara in October. Cross your fingers that arenas and housing will be ready in time. read more

One long-ago year, my Dad was out of work, much as fathers are today, but he was determined we'd have a tree just the same. All four of us, Dad, Mom, my sister and I, went to McNally's, the local man who sold trees just once a year. We couldn't afford any of his trees, except the worst looking thing on the entire lot. To call it "scrawny" would've been a compliment. It had a skinny trunk an 8-year-old could put her thumb and forefinger completely around and it was not blessed with more than half a dozen nearly bald branches. Besides all that, it tilted like the Tower of Pisa. My sister and I looked at each other in teary dismay. read more

Josefina is the woman who, when I was bitten by a scorpion and hysterically yelling for help, simply went to the top shelf of her kitchen cabinet, withdrew a glass jar containing a dead scorpion in sticky fluid, and applied the fluid to my wound. "Voila!" The pain immediately subsided, and that was the end of my trauma.

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There once was a questionnaire regarding what was best and worst about Mexico. Wonderful winter weather was judged the single best thing about Mexico. Compiled answers said the second best thing about Mexico was the food. Food was also listed among the worst things about Mexico. The ratio of favorable to unfavorable was about three to one. Instead of Maya ruins or architecture in Guadalajara or ripe mangos at street markets, third among positives were beautiful women. read more

Is Mexico moving forward or back? Perspective please. Do they sell Brita water filters in Mexico? Do they purify street water so you can drink it? Can it possibly be true that a Mexican invented color television? What are micheladas? I just heard a tidbit about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. How did they get back into the news? read more

My survey says half the households in Mexico have a dog or cat.

Our neighbors have two small, yappy dogs and one cat the color of a pale pumpkin. Another cat, mostly white, comes and goes but is not regarded as a permanent resident with full privileges. If it arrives when the food dish is full, it eats and stays a while. If its timing is bad, it apparently moves on.

Small children sometimes throw the pets around as if they were stuffed toys. I shudder. Somehow, all survive.

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From the outside, this bullring resembles nothing so much as a red erector-set construction but inside, it is a concrete-stepped cone funneling down to the sand, on which are painted two white rings, o... read more

For some, illegal immigration is a simple equation, what you risk for what you get.

Luis Alberto Martinez Gomez became an illegal four years ago. He was 16.

The family concluded Luis might be better off in the United States. There was an uncle who once made a promise to help the nephew if ever needed. He came through with cash for a border coyote.

Going north sounded so simple.

It wasn't.

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Question: What is a Mexican roof dog?

Answer: Glad you asked. It is a low-budget form of homeland security, a four-legged alarm placed on flat roofs of homes and businesses to look down on and discourage intruders, door-to-door salesmen and other nuisances.

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We do not operate an all-inclusive five-star resort. We do not live in a gated gringo enclave. Our home is in a genuine Mexican village, suburban Jocotepec, west end of Lake Chapala in the exciting state of Jalisco. Our street is bumpy and emits dust. We have no central heat or air conditioning. We do offer spectacular sunrises over the lake and a great view of Mount Garcia. We are pleased to report there is no steady flow of guests. Children, grandchildren and other relatives cycle through at their and our convenience. Close friends and next-door neighbors from East Tennessee have come and gone, one or two or three each winter, and another now and then when we return for the rainy season. read more

Mexico has one of the most extensive highway systems anywhere, providing convenient and indispensable connections among villages, towns and cities.

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I'm sick and tired of hearing disagreements between the U.S.A. and Mexico. First, there's the emigration thing with fences and coyotes and blustering politicians; second is the drug thing where the U.S. blames Mexico for their own addictive population; and now the U.S. is blaming the Maya for a prophesied 2012 doomsday scenario.

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Mexico has many myths but this was a wonderful truth, six military academy cadets, in defiance of Gen. Nicholas Bravo's order to retreat, choosing to fight to the finish. They were lieutenant Juan de la Barrera, 20, Agustin Melgar, Vicente Suarez, Francisco Marquez, Fernando Montes de Oca and Juan Escutia. One by one they were struck down. read more

I bought another watch the other day. I didn't need it, but there is great joy in negotiating with the watch salesman. A chunky, little man works the villages along the north side of Lake Chapala in the exciting state of Jalisco. His specialty is watches with fancy faces, famous names and very ordinary insides. He always has make-believe Rolexes and sometimes Cartiers and Movados. read more

Driving in Oaxaca, Mexico, became a little more difficult in September / October, 2009. That's when federal, state and municipal governments actually began enforcing the law, at least in the City of O... read more

John Steinbeck penned his famous book, Tortilla Flat, in 1935, and apparently never considered Hollywood's casting choices when it was made into a film in 1942. If he had, he would've fallen flat himse... read more

This old gringo, from time to time, receives a flurry of comments and questions. Many are predictable. Where should I visit? How much does it cost? How's the weather in January? Is it safe to drive? ... read more

In Talpa de Allende, there is a neighborhood girl who calls me her quasi-godmother. We have studied English together for the past few summers, but I find her attention span jumping about like a monkey.... read more

When Kenny Rogers sang, "Ya got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em … " in his hit, "The Gambler," he was singing about more than playing cards, he was singing about life with Josefina. ... read more

A funny thing happened the other day to one of my favorite Mexicans. He was invited to speak at a college, which, once upon a time, slammed the front door in his face. Rodolfo Calva Marquez © Marv... read more

In 1934 during the depths of the Great Depression, horse trainer Tom Smith was living out of a stall at Mexico's Agua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana. Flat broke, Smith shared the stall with Noble Threewit, who trained horses for a friend of Charles Howard. Howard was seeking a trainer for his new horse, Seabiscuit, a seemingly incorrigible Thoroughbred. read more